Every Brilliant Thing

The Stage / Nick Awde


Duncan Macmillan’s play about depression is so simply strutured, it proves somewhat complicated to explain. As you walk into the Paines Plough bigtop roundabout, a chatty man is handing out scraps of paper with numbers and phrases. Is he front of house or a production assistant? The lights don’t go down but the man – Jonny Donahoe – turns to address the whole audience, thus quietly embarking on an extraordinary piece of inclusive, participative theatre.

He tells us about growing up in a loving household despite having a distracted dad and a depressed mum. When he’s only six, his mother attempts suicide and he decides to make a list for her of all the brilliant things that make life worth living – no. 1 is ice-cream, no. 2 is kung fu movies, no. 4 is laughing so hard you shoot milk out your nose. His mum’s depression deepens, which only spurs him on to adding to the list even as he grows into adulthood. The audience fill in his list from their bits of paper, and at times join in as his dad or the love of his life.

It’s a fascinating process working out where script stops and audience begins, and it is a shame to give things away because part of the pleasure is discovering for yourself the rules for such a determined life. Indeed, part of the tension is working out whether we are witnessing an innocent labour of love or an unfolding obsession. Either way, the depiction of the guilt taken on by someone so affected by a loved one’s depression brings a lump to the throat in what is an otherwise boldy unsentimental script.

Part actor, part comic, part neuro-linguistic programmer, Donahoe creates the whole show from nothing but those bits of paper and split-second timing, the latter being vital to pulling the play through, since by its very nature every night will take a different direction and mood. It is also a testament to director George Perrin’s sensitive harnessing of Donahoe’s ability to engage so personally – and this while playing to 360 degrees of audience – allowing the actor to deliver both the humour and the emotional punch on his own, and the audience’s, terms.

Performances & Booking Details